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Scioscia hopes off-day helps reset flailing 'pen

OAKLAND -- After Jered Weaver's shutout on Monday, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said it shouldn't take long for some of the pitchers in the club's beleaguered bullpen to reset, and Weaver's outing would help.

But C.J. Wilson followed Weaver's effort with just five innings on Tuesday, and the bullpen was taxed again, with three relievers combining to give up four runs. That pushed the total to 27 earned runs allowed in 24 1/3 innings in the first nine games of the 10-game road trip that wrapped up with Wednesday's series finale against the A's.

So how does Scioscia feel about the bullpen's status at this point? A little better, with the team going into a much-needed off-day on Thursday.

"The guys we know we have confidence in that are going to hold leads for us, they're fine," Scioscia said. "They should be fine now, especially with the off-day tomorrow. Hopefully they've reset and we'll be able to monitor and manage it moving forward."

But that came with the caveat that some of Scioscia's other arms have some "wear" on them, an issue exacerbated by the fact that they've been used more than he would like recently due to short outings from starters. The manager noted that usage like that can lead to pitchers' stuff being less sharp, and he's seen of some of that with the 'pen.

Scioscia, too, was quick to point to those issues with the larger staff, calling it "misleading" to just focus on the relievers due to the starters' problems getting deep into games. Other than Weaver's nine-inning effort on Monday, only two outings have gone longer than six innings in nine games of the road trip.

"Even if it's a game you end up not winning, you need starters, to a certain point, to stay in the game and hopefully have a chance to come back," Scioscia said. "We've been having trouble minimizing damage and some games have gotten a little out of hand."

OAKLAND -- After Jered Weaver's shutout on Monday, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said it shouldn't take long for some of the pitchers in the club's beleaguered bullpen to reset, and Weaver's outing would help.

But C.J. Wilson followed Weaver's effort with just five innings on Tuesday, and the bullpen was taxed again, with three relievers combining to give up four runs. That pushed the total to 27 earned runs allowed in 24 1/3 innings in the first nine games of the 10-game road trip that wrapped up with Wednesday's series finale against the A's.

So how does Scioscia feel about the bullpen's status at this point? A little better, with the team going into a much-needed off-day on Thursday.

"The guys we know we have confidence in that are going to hold leads for us, they're fine," Scioscia said. "They should be fine now, especially with the off-day tomorrow. Hopefully they've reset and we'll be able to monitor and manage it moving forward."

But that came with the caveat that some of Scioscia's other arms have some "wear" on them, an issue exacerbated by the fact that they've been used more than he would like recently due to short outings from starters. The manager noted that usage like that can lead to pitchers' stuff being less sharp, and he's seen of some of that with the 'pen.

Scioscia, too, was quick to point to those issues with the larger staff, calling it "misleading" to just focus on the relievers due to the starters' problems getting deep into games. Other than Weaver's nine-inning effort on Monday, only two outings have gone longer than six innings in nine games of the road trip.

"Even if it's a game you end up not winning, you need starters, to a certain point, to stay in the game and hopefully have a chance to come back," Scioscia said. "We've been having trouble minimizing damage and some games have gotten a little out of hand."